So I’ve recapped on Day One and Two of our holiday so far and this is Three! Though I didn’t mention before, the week before we went away, I was really ill. By the Friday we left, I was feeling a bit better but I was fairly dosed up on paracetamol. However by Saturday I wasn’t feeling much better and I’d managed to infect Nat, so Sunday morning we were both feeling a bit rough, especially after our late night. We got up in time to go to the convention but in the end both of us agreed that other than some autographs in the afternoon, there wasn’t much happening at the convention that day that we wanted to do. In the end we decided to do some more sightseeing, checking our bags into the convention first as we were moving hotel that day. We headed to McDonalds and grabbed a quick breakfast, which luckily left us both feeling a bit better.

We caught the train from Versailles, back towards the centre of Paris and here we walked to the Louvre. This was a place I had hopped to see on my last trip and had been unable to, so it was top of my list when it came to places to visit still. The weather was nice and so walking was fine. We made sure we kept a bottle of water with us and plenty of pain killers, just taking our time and sitting every now and again.

After seeing the Louvre (only from the outside) we decided to walk up towards the Arc De Triomphe, along the Champs-Élysées. It took us about an hour in total, though we did stop off at the Disney Store on the way.

Finally, after a sit down and catch our breath, we caught a train back to the main line we needed to be on. The stop was the same as the Eiffel Tower, so we decided to get out and see the tower in the day time too. At the station there was a shop selling fresh baguettes and so we both bought lunch. After seeing the Eiffel Tower (and the football it was hosting, in honour of the Euros) we sat and ate our lunch before finally heading back to Versailles.

Back at the convention, we got our last few autographs and then checked out with our bags. We now had the long journey from Versailles to CDG airport, where we would catch a shuttle bus to our hotel for the next two nights. Unfortunately the shuttle bus wasn’t the easiest thing to figure out and at first we ended up on the wrong one. However eventually we arrived at our hotel and checked in. The restaurant was closed by that time but they made us up a starter plate and dessert plate to take back to our room. Sadly the food wasn’t really anything we liked and by trying to manage some of it, we put ourselves off even eating the desserts! In the end we just headed to bed, feeling ill, cold and tired but knowing Disney was the next day and trying to look forward to it.

Yesterday I started my Travel Diary with our Day One in Paris. Day Two was spent largely at a convention, but I’ll recap on that a little. We did manage to sight-see as well though, so there’s some actual Paris too.

As I mentioned before, our convention was called Fairy Tales (Chapter IV). It was run by a company called Xivents who have been doing these conventions for a few years. The guests who were attending were Lana Parrilla (Regina), Colin O’Donoghue (Captain Hook), Rebecca Mader (Wicked Witch), Sean Maguire (Robin Hood), Liam Garrigan (King Arthur), Amy Manson (Merida) and Greg Germann (Hades). There were panels scheduled in the morning and afternoon, then time for photographs, autographs, Meet and Greets etc. The majority of the information was in French unfortunately and while they did try to communicate a lot in English too, organisation was poor and it was quite confusing at times.

Nat and I started off the day by watching a panel, we then had a few photoshoots and autographs. The morning went fairly fast and we headed off for lunch at McDonalds.

We headed back to the convention and watched another panel. We then had a little wander to look at the stalls but ultimately headed back to the hotel early to drop off our stuff and then catch the train into Paris.

Our first stop on the nightime tourist spots was Notre Dame. I had seen this last time I went to Paris, but Nat hadn’t been before so we started here. Next we went to the Moulin Rouge. I hadn’t managed to see this myself last time and it was fairly spectacular to see at night, though not at all what I’d expected. Here we decided to eat crepes for dinner and sit and enjoy them outside the Moulin Rouge before catching the train to the Eiffel Tower. Again I had seen the Eiffel Tower last time (and even gone up it in fact) but we went to see it again so that Nat could.

Sadly at this point we missed the last train home but we didn’t let it faze us too much and just grabbed a taxis back. It was pretty late by this time and we headed straight to bed. Sadly the hotel had a function on (possibly a wedding) and it was REALLY loud. The room wasn’t at all soundproof and the music went on till at least 2.30am so that was a bit of a struggle.

As you’ll have seen, I wrote about Day One, Day Two and Day Three of our holiday. Technically there was a Day Four but it just involved getting up, packing and heading off on the drive home, through the tunnel and again driving home. So I skipped that day and instead I’m bringing you the final post from this holiday, The Haul.

My biggest purchase of the holiday, was my Disneyland Paris annual pass! I haven’t actually taken a picture of the pass itself, but here is the info booklet that comes with it. Sadly it’s all in French, so I don’t understand a whole bunch of it, but it was pretty awesome getting it all anyway.

Since we were visiting the park anyway, I knocked off the price of that day’s ticket (74 Euros) and paid just 150 on the day. I say just, but it’s not really just, however I knew I would be going again the next month and it would save money on that ticket and of course the reductions and discounts it offers anyway.

Other than that, there was just souvenirs from each day. Day One was obviously visiting the Eiffel Tower. I treated myself to a postcard, a mug and a fridge magnet.

The girls got themselves a postcard each and then Lily bought a pen while Megan bought it miniature version of the tower itself.

Chris did get himself an ornament too but I actually didn’t photo much of his stuff!

Next day, was Disney Village. It was supposed to be a day in Paris but due to feeling ill in the morning, that didn’t happen. Instead we spent the afternoon in Disney Village (at the Parks) but I didn’t buy much as I knew we were going back the next day. The one thing I did grab was the Tsum Tsums we’d missed the week before from The Disney Store.

Finally was our day in the Disneyland Parks. I was pretty good and tamed my spending but I did get a baby Pegasus and a new mug.

Chris bought a mug too so I actually photographed that with mine as well, both front and back!

The girls bought chocolate bars to take home for their friends.

They also bought one thing each – Megan, a scarf (I forgot to photograph) and Lily, some wellies. Megan’s scarf has Walt Disney quotes all over it and I have to admit I’d love to steal Lily’s wellies too!

This is our mini haul which isn’t too bad for a weekend away. I’m back to Disneyland Paris again this month though so watch this space for whatever I give in to!

I had originally hoped to update my blog daily while away, but unfortunately it didn’t work out that way! While I did update about setting off on holiday, I didn’t actually manage to update about the holiday days themselves.

Day One

We were up super early, an alarm set for 6am. We headed out of the Travelodge in Maidstone and set off for the Channel Tunnel. I’d never been across this way before so I was pretty excited and even more so when I realised it would only take about half an hour.

Once we were crossed over the tunnel, it was straight off to our destination. Though our weekend away was in Paris, we weren’t actually staying there. Instead we were staying in a HPB Property in the Île de France. The journey was almost 4 hours but we stopped at a supermarket on the way to pick up food and eat lunch in the car park. When we did arrive at the property, we had plenty of time to look around, go swimming, unpack and settle in.

However in the evening, we had planned a trip to the Eiffel Tower. We had tickets booked for 8pm so we left the HPB property at 6pm, knowing it would take an hour, plus parking and then a short Metro trip. Sadly traffic was awful and it took ages to get into Paris. Then finding the Metro stop was pretty tricky too! Finally at about 8pm, we got down into the Metro station, only to struggle buying tickets and then find out there was strikes. At about 8.30pm we rocked up at the Eiffel Tower, feel pretty rushed and worried they wouldn’t let us on as we’d completely missed our spot. However the people at the barrier didn’t even hesitate to let us on and we joined the queue.

The first thing we did, was head straight to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It took a while as it was pretty busy and the elevator to the top is quite a bit smaller than the elevator to half way. It was still daylight when we got there so it was really nice to get some good pictures and be able to easily see all the views. Eventually we made our way down to the next level and it was starting to get dusky. We stayed around to watch the sunset and see Paris at night.

After quite a while up the Eiffel Tower, we headed back down to the ground. It was getting late and we still had to make our way back to the car. We took a few pictures from the ground and then headed back on the Metro. We came out near Notre Dame (which we’d rushed past the first time) so it was nice to see that at night too. We then went back to the car and headed back to our holiday accommodation.

To be truthful, the Eiffel Tower trip was the highlight of my trip. It was the one thing I wanted to do while in Paris and despite being a little stressful to get there, it didn’t disappoint. Though I didn’t realise it at the time, it was probably the most problem-free day of our trip too, even if it was completely exhausting!

Recently I was offered the opportunity to review a Canvas Print, from the lovely people at Canvas Design. I jumped at the chance, needing only to send them the picture of my choice and in a matter of days, the Canvas Print was at my door! However, even if I’d gone through their site, the process is so easy! Upload your photo, customise your photo and then place your order!

I’ll be honest now… the hardest part of the whole process for me, was designing what picture I wanted on printed canvas! How do you choose? After much umming and ahhing, I chose a photo from our trip to Disneyland Paris last year, where we drove through Paris and took pictures of the Eiffel Tower.

It’s not by any means the perfect picture, but it is at least a personal photo and it holds many wonderful memories of our trip. Paris also holds a very special place in my heart, so any excuse to have a print of the Eiffel Tower on my house walls.

Less than a week after sending my photo over via email, I had a text telling me my Canvas Print had been dispatched and it would be delivered the next day. I was surprised to get a courier notification by text, but pleasantly so! The courier even specified an hour time frame, within which the canvas would be delivered – so no waiting in all day!

When the canvas arrived, it was extremely well packaged. A layer of corrugated cardboard, around a layer of bubblewrap. It wasn’t so well wrapped up that you couldn’t get in though and I didn’t need to use scissors and risk ruining the print.

The end result is this, the above pictured, finished canvas. I’m so pleased with it, I can’t even tell you! The detail is great and so is the quality. Though my photographs don’t really do it justice, you can see below some close up shots.

So… not only am I loving my new canvas print, Canvas Design have also given me the opportunity, to allow one lucky reader of my blog to win their own Canvas! All you have to do is fill in the Rafflecopter form below and then hope for the best! However, if you can’t wait till then… you can use the code BLOG15 at Canvas Design’s site, and this will grant you 15% off their prices. Not only that, but postage is free – so grab a bargain!

Canvas Design – Free Canvas Print – Giveaway!

Enter to win:You could win your very own canvas print, thanks to the lovely people at Canvas Design. You can choose any size from 6×6 right up to 40×40 and you can of course use any picture you like. The only condition is that you MUST be a UK resident (I’m sorry, this isn’t open to International readers of my blog!). Giveaway ends in exactly 2 weeks time, that’s Wednesday 19th March!

So what are you waiting for? Fill in the form below for as many chances as you can to win this great prize. Don’t forget to come back daily and tweet, for another additional entry!